Dunkin' Donuts gets zoning approval in Plymouth

PLYMOUTH — The Plymouth Zoning Hearing Board heard a request for a special exception for a Dunkin’ Donuts with drive thru at a former Mobile gasoline station at 435 W. Germantown Pike Monday night and granted the special exception.

Attorney Michael Clement, representing franchise owners Ricky and Vipul Patel, said the gas station was an existing, non-conforming use on the property.

“The property has been actively marketed,” he said. “It appears to be a less intense use. The proposal does not require any dimensional variances.”

Property owner Paul Tornetta said there was previously a former Lukoil gasoline station with a convenience store and a drive-thru car wash there. The gasoline tanks were removed from the property.

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Engineer Rick Stoneback said the proposed Dunkin’ Donuts would have two entrance and exit driveways on the eastbound side of Germantown Pike and 22 parking spaces. Germantown Pike has a median between the eastbound and westbound sides of Germantown Pike.

Traffic engineer John Wichner said he compared three nearby Dunkin’ Donuts locations in Norristown and Conshohocken and a Willow Grove location that is on Route 611 approaching the Pennsylvania Turnpike entrance. Wichner said the heaviest use was from 7 a.m. to 9 a.m. and that a proposed, drive-thru lane could accommodate eight vehicles. A bypass lane could be used to drive around to the parking spaces.

Traffic counts of vehicles in the four drive-thru lanes had an “average” of five vehicles in the lane and a maximum of nine vehicles. Board member Michael Mattioni said that he had encountered major problems finding parking on a Saturday at the Conshohocken Dunkin’ Donuts.

“This is just over the crest of the hill,” Mattioni said. “I have a concern knowing what Germantown Pike is like on Saturday morning.”

Board member Robert Esposito asked if any of the four studies traffic locations had traffic circulation patterns to the proposed driveway layout. “My concern is about who becomes the ninth car trying to get into the drive-thru lane,” Esposito said. “I do like the in and out onto Germantown Pike.

Vipul Patel said the hours would be 4 a.m. to 10 p.m. Patel said that service was about 100 seconds per car in the drive-thru.

Patel said he owned the two Norristown sites included in the traffic study.

The board unanimously approved the special exception and variance for the Dunkin’ Donuts.

Clement said the Patels will submit site plans to the Plymouth Planning Agency this spring for the project.

In other business, residents living near the Concentra Urgent Care at 850 Germantown Pike appealed the sign permit issued for a sign on Sept. 6, 2013 by Zoning Officer David Conroy because the sign was larger than the permit allowed. Plymouth Solicitor Thomas Speers presented a case against the size of the sign but the property owners and officials from the sign company did not attend the hearing.

Conroy revoked the sign permit in November 2013 after resident Alan Charkey filed a formal, written objection to the sign.

“I would rather be arguing with someone,” Speers said, after it was determined no property owner or sign representative was at the hearing.

The zoning solicitor, Bernadette Kearney, asked for paperwork showing the owner and company were properly notified about the hearing.

Charkey said, “this sign is glaringly bright. This thing is dangerous and it has got to be turned off.”

Speers said a 1983 zoning approval for a sign allowed a 25 square foot sign with the light intensity of a 60 watt bulb.

Several residents living at Plymouth Meadows Condominiums near the sign testified the sign was too bright and too large.

The appeal of the sign permit was unanimously approved by the zoning hearing board.

New Penn Financial asked for a variance to allow a roof-mounted sign on the top of the office building at 4000 Chemical Road.

Attorney Elizabeth Hurtibise, representing Brandywine Realty Trust, said the support steel for the sign was less visible than an earlier design.

A request for a 163.5 square feet of signage where a maximum of 108 square feet of signage is allowed.

Jeff Carson of City Sign Service, said the location was a former financial branch has no direct driveway access off Butler Pike.

“The signage that we need is effectively on the back of the building. The two directional signs would accommodate traffic flow,” Carson said. “This is a pad site that is directly behind the Sunoco gasoline station.”

The variance for the 163.5 square foot sign and two directional signs was granted by the board.